WO2011070008A1

WO2011070008A1 - Machine for laundry care having a door

Info

Publication number: WO2011070008A1
Application number: PCT/EP2010/069063
Authority: WO
Inventors: Didem Tarkun; Kerim Turgut; Fevzi Ugur ÖTENKUS
Original assignee: BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH
Priority date: 2009-12-08
Filing date: 2010-12-07
Publication date: 2011-06-16
Also published as: TR200909201A2

Abstract

The present invention relates to a front loading machine 1 for laundry care comprising: a front panel 10 with a door opening 14, a seat portion 20 arranged at the peripheral edge of the door opening 14 and a bearing portion 26 having a hole 24 provided on the seat portion 20; a hinge 30 secured to the bearing portion 26 by means of a fastening element 50 extending from the hinge 30 into the hole 24; a door 40 movably attached to the hinge 30 to rotate about a substantially vertical axis and in contact with the seat portion 20 at a closed position of the door 40; wherein the bearing portion 26 has at least one groove 21 on surrounding the hole 24and a distance from the hole 24.

Description

MACHINE FOR LAUNDRY CARE HAVING A DOOR

The present invention relates to a front loading machine for laundry care, in particular a washing machine or a drying machine, with a door fixed onto the front panel by means of a hinge.

A machine for laundry care of this general type is disclosed in EP 1 960 584 B1.

Conventionally, a door of a front loading machine for laundry care, in particular a washing machine or a drying machine, is pivoted to a seat portion on the metal sheet front panel of a housing by means of a hinge. Because of the door's load, and because of the opening and closing of the door, or because of stresses applied to the door by the user, tensions are formed on the seat portion where the hinge is fixed. In order to compensate such tension, an additional metal sheet piece is fixed to the front panel's rear face in alignment with the hinge. In this case, the assembly of the additional piece to the front panel's rear surface is required. In order to eliminate the necessity to use an additional piece, the seat portion thickness might be increased so as to reinforce the fastening of the door and the additional loads thereon. Since the front panel is generally a one piece sheet, the whole of the front panel should be made of a thicker sheet which has a higher cost, in order to increase the seat portion thickness.

The object of the subject matter invention is to enable the usage of a thin front panel or a large and heavy front door without increasing the front panel thickness in a front loading machine for laundry care.

With this and other objects in view, the present invention provides a front loading machine for laundry care as defined in the appended independent claim. Preferred embodiments of the invention are subject of dependent claims and the subsequent description. According to the invention there is provided a front loading machine for laundry care comprising: a front panel with a door opening, a seat portion arranged at the peripheral edge of the door opening and a bearing portion having a hole provided on the seat portion; a hinge secured to the bearing portion by means of a fastening element extending from the hinge into the hole; a door movably attached to the hinge to rotate about a substantially vertical axis and in contact with the seat portion at a closed position of the door, wherein the bearing portion has at least one groove surrounding the hole at a distance from the hole.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the groove is placed in such a manner as to resist against a load of the door. Accordingly, there is a machine for laundry care comprising: a front panel with a door opening, a seat portion arranged at the peripheral edge of the door opening and a bearing portion having a hole provided on the seat portion; a hinge secured to the bearing portion by means of a fastening element extending from the hinge into the hole; a door movably attached to the hinge to rotate in a substantially vertical axis and in contact with the seat portion when a closed position of the door; and at least one groove on the bearing portion surrounding the hole with a distance in such a manner that resisting against a load (Fd) of the door.

By means of this, since the door load is compensated by the groove, the usage of a front panel in thin sheet form is provided. Since the door's load which applies force and/or moment to the panel by means of the hinge distributes the stress to an widened area which is formed by the groove and a flexing or deformation formation on the front panel seat portion is prevented. Moreover, since the door's load deforms the seat portion only, the possibility of the leak-proof contact of the door to the seat portion is eliminated.

In another preferred embodiment of the invention, the load (Fd) of the door is substantially through the downwards direction. For instance, this load may be formed by the load of the door or as a result of the pressure the user applies on the door. Since the door's load is in the downward direction, in other words, since the door's load is parallel with the direction of the gravity force, the front panel can carry the door weight by means of the groove.

In a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the groove has a closed geometry. By means of this, the door's load and the load on the groove can be resisted by the closed geometry whatever the direction of the load. The groove cross section which is orthogonal to the load will resist the load, for instance, it will carry the load. In yet another preferred embodiment of the invention, the groove has an U-like cross section. By means of this, the groove can be easily applied to the front panels with no groove by means of a press which has a tab thereon with a suitable form. In yet a further preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one cutout at the vicinity of the hole is provided on the bearing portion being surrounded by the groove in which a hook extending from the hinge is mounted. By means of the cutout, the hinge can be seated onto the front panel. In this case, the door's load will be applied to the panel by means of a hinge orthogonally to the cross section of the front panel. Thus, the groove can carry the door's load with maximum efficiency.

In still another preferred embodiment of the invention, the hole is located at a vicinity of the upper edge of the bearing portion. In case the hinge seats along the bearing portion, since the maximum drawing stress will be applied in the vicinity of the upper edge by means of the door load and since the hole is placed in this region, more load can be carried.

In still a further preferred embodiment of the present invention, a further hole surrounded by a further auxiliary groove is arranged at the vicinity of bottom edge of the bearing portion. Thus, the door load applied to the bottom part of the bearing portion is resisted by an auxiliary groove.

In again another preferred embodiment of the invention, the front panel has at least one housing which is extending substantially vertically on the seat portion to define boundary of the bearing portion. In a probable embodiment, this housing is in the form of a depression. By means of this, the hinge is seated into the housing and the assembly thereof can be realized in a simpler manner.

In again a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the groove has a substantially circular shape. By means of this, the groove resists the door load applied in any direction and it provides equal resistance increase in every direction. In a probable embodiment, the shape thereof is ellipsoid or it is in the form of a rectangle wherein there is a circle arc. In even another preferred embodiment of the invention, at least one depression is provided at the bearing portion at a vicinity of the groove. The depression which is at the vicinity of the groove provides an additional resistance against the door load at the bearing portion.

In a concomitant preferred embodiment of the invention the machine for laundry care is a washing machine.

Characteristics and advantages of the invention are now described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments as shown in the Figures of the appended drawing.

In Figure 1 , the perspective view of a front loading washing machine comprising a representative embodiment of the subject matter front panel is given. In Figure 2, the rear perspective view of a hinge is given which is used in the front loading washing machine illustrated in Figure 1.

In Figure 3, the frontal detailed view of the bearing portion of a front panel is given, where said front panel is given in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 1.

In Figure 4, the rear detailed view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3 is given.

In Figure 1 , the perspective view of an example machine 1 for laundry care embodied in a front loading washing machine 1 is illustrated. A front panel 10 with thin plate form forms the front face of the washing machine 1 which has a rectangular prism form. A door 40 opening outwardly from the front surface 12 of a front panel 10 is added to a seat portion 20 of the front panel 10 by means of a hinge 30. The hinge's 30 position on the seat portion 20 is close to the lateral edge of the front panel 10 and it is substantially parallel said lateral edge. In the present embodiment, the hinge 30 is in the seat portion's 20 closest part to the lateral edge 17.

The seat portion 20 is at the periphery of a door opening 16 through which the door 40 passes and which exists in the middle parts of the front panel 10. In the present application, the door opening 16 is circular. The seat portion 20 encompassing this is a circular flange with offset which is obtained by the bending of the door opening periphery of the front panel 10, where said bending is inward the washing machine 1 . When the door 40 is closed, a frame 42 encompassing the periphery of the glass rests onto the seat portion 20 from the inner surface thereof.

In Figure 2, the perspective view of a hinge 30 is given, where the hinge faces the surface where it is assembled. The hinge 30 comprises a base 31 in a flat bar form and in spring form which is compliant to the diameter of the seat portion 20; an arm 35 extending outwardly from the base 31 ; and assembly elements. In order for the base 31 to be fixed to the seat portion 20, there is one each opening 32 on the upper and lower ends thereof. Moreover, there is one each hook 34 between the openings 32, where the ends of said hooks 34 face downward. One each arms 35 which are positioned in the vicinity of the ends of the base 31 and where one is placed above and where one is placed below have one each pins 36 which are opposite to each other and which face outwardly. The door 40 is assembled to the hinge 30 by means of these pins 36.

In Figure 3 and Figure 4, the detailed view of the front panel 10 where the hinge 30 is placed on the seat portion 20 is illustrated from the front surface 12 where the assembly is realized, and it is illustrated from the rear surface 14 which is opposite to the front surface 12. On the seat portion 20, the housing 28 is formed by means of a bending which is compliant to the outer dimensions of the hinge base 31 . In the present application, the housing 28 determines the limit of the bearing portion which is required in order for the hinge 30 to seat in a safe manner. In alternative applications, the bearing portion 26 can be obtained by means of more than one housing 28 or without any housing 28 form and it can be obtained only by the allotment of a certain part of the seat portion 20.

Inside the bearing portion 26, there are one each holes 24 at a distance corresponding to the assembly openings 32 of the hinge 30. As can be seen in Figure 1 , a fastening element 50, for instance a bolt fixes the hinge 30 to the front panel 10 by passing through the assembly opening 32 and afterwards by passing through the hole 24.

Inside the bearing portion 26, there is one each cutout 25 at a distance corresponding to the hooks 34 of the hinge 30. The cutout 25 is a hole where the hook 34 can enter. The cutout 25 is obtained by the cutting and removing of a piece in rectangular form at the bearing portion 26. The hook 34 seats into the cutout 25, in other words it seats onto the bearing portion 26 cross section, it applies a pressure downwardly from above by means of the loads which itself and the door 40 apply. Some of the loads Fd the door 40 applies on the hinge 30 are illustrated representatively in Figure 2. For instance, on the upper arm 35, the door load Fd applies a pressure force downwardly from the upper pin 36 periphery; in the lower arm 35, the door load Fd applies a pressure force from the lower arm 35 towards the front panel because of the rotation moment Md. The door load Fd is also downwards in the upper and lower hooks 34. The amplitude of the door load Fd on the front panel 10 changes with respect to the opened-closed position of the door 30 and with respect to the force the user applies to the door 30, the door load Fd is maximum when the door 30 is orthogonal to the front panel 10. In this orthogonal position, in order to prevent the door load Fd deforming the front panel 10 seat portion 20, a groove 21 encompassing the cutout 25 and the upper hole 24 is formed on the bearing portion 26. In the lower part, an auxiliary groove 23 is formed circularly so as to encompass the hole 24.

The groove 21 , 23 is in the form a cross section similar to U. In alternative applications, it can have a different cross section. The forms with a curve are preferred because of their advantage in stress distribution. (For instance, S cross section, C cross section). A planar distance m is left between the periphery of the groove 21 , 23 and the hole 24. Thus, when door load Fd is applied, it is ensured that the hole 24 can enlarge up to the groove 21 within an applicable range. Since the groove 21 provides a higher spring coefficient with respect to the intermediate distance m, the door load Fd reaches the bearing portion 20 through the hole 24 by means of a flexible system in a serially connected spring characteristics with a small followed by a greater spring coefficient.

There is a depression 22 between the groove 21 and the auxiliary groove 23 so as to be between the bearing portion 26 limits. This depression 22 is cold formed to the front panel 10 by means of a mould. Thus, a pre-stressed area is formed inside the bearing portion 26 and resistance is provided against the door load Fd applied through the hinge 30. In the present application, the groove depth is equal to 2,2 mm ± 0, 1 mm. The distance m between the upper hole 24 and the groove 21 is minimum 4 mm and maximum 10 mm. The distance m between the lower hole 24 and the auxiliary groove 23 is between 3 mm - 4 mm. The auxiliary groove 23 width at the lower hole 24 periphery is equal to 2,4 ± 0,2 mm. The distance between the depression 22 in the center and the lower cutout 25 is equal to 8 ± 0,2 mm. The distance between the depression 22 in the center and groove 21 in the periphery of the upper hole 24 is equal to 16 ± 0,2 mm.

REFERENCE NUMERALS

Washing machine 30 Hinge

Front panel 31 Base

Front surface 32 Opening

Rear surface 34 Hook

Door opening 35 Arm

Lateral edge 36 Pin

Seat portion 40 Door

Groove 42 Frame

Depression 50 Fastening element Auxiliary groove Md Moment

Hole Fd Door load

Cutout m Distance

Bearing portion

7 Hole

8 Housing

Claims

A front loading machine (1 ) for laundry care comprising: a front panel (10) with a door opening (14), a seat portion (20) arranged at the peripheral edge of the door opening (14) and a bearing portion (26) having a hole (24) provided on the seat portion (20); a hinge (30) secured to the bearing portion (26) by means of a fastening element (50) extending from the hinge (30) into the hole (24); a door (40) movably attached to the hinge (30) to rotate about a substantially vertical axis and in contact with the seat portion (20) at a closed position of the door (40) characterized in that the bearing portion (26) has at least one groove (21 ) surrounding the hole (24) at a distance from the hole (24).

The machine (1 ) according to claim 1 , wherein the groove (21 ) is placed in such a manner as to resist against a load of the door (40).

The machine (1 ) according to claim 2, wherein the load of the door (40) is substantially through the downwards direction.

The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the groove (21 ) has a closed geometry.

The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the groove (21 ) has a U-like cross section.

The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one cutout (25) at the vicinity of the hole (24) is provided on the bearing portion (26) being surrounded by the groove (21 ) in which a hook (34) extending from the hinge (30) is mounted.

The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the hole (24) is located at a vicinity of the upper edge of the bearing portion (26).

8. The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein a further hole (27) surrounded by a further auxiliary groove (23) is arranged at the vicinity of bottom edge of the bearing portion (26).

9. The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the front panel (10) has at least one housing (28) which is extending substantially vertically on the seat portion (20) to define boundary of the bearing portion (26).

10. The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the groove (21 ) has a substantially circular shape.

1 1. The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, wherein at least one depression (22) is provided at the bearing portion (26) at a vicinity of the groove (21 ).

12. The machine (1 ) according to any of the preceding claims, which is embodied as a washing machine (1 ).